Philip Hammond has delivered the 2017 Spring Budget, his first as chancellor. In future the Budget will take place in the Autumn, a change he announced in the 2016 Autumn Statement.

The TFMC Finance & Tax App has a dedicated Budget News section with plenty of detail and reaction. Nevertheless, here are some of the key highlights of the 2017 Spring Budget:

  • Class 4 National Insurance contributions which affect the self-employed to increase from the current rate of 9% to 10% in 2018 and 11% in 2019. Expected to raise around £145m per year by 2021/22 this is expected to affect around 2.5 million people.
  • Tax free dividend allowance to be cut from £5,000 to £2,000 from April 2018
  • Personal Allowance to rise to £11,500 in April and with the aim to reach £12,500 by 2020
  • With the pending increases in business rates those who are set to lose the existing small business rates relief will have increases capped at £50 per month. Pubs with a rateable value of less than £100,000 will get a £1,000 discount
  • Businesses with turnover below the VAT registration threshold to have the introduction of quarterly digital reporting put back 12 months
  • £2bn in additional grant funding for social care over the next 3 years
  • The new NS&I bond will pay 2.2% on deposits up to £3,000 from April
  • From September 2017 working parents with 3 and 4 year old children will have their tax-free childcare entitlement doubled to 30 hours per week
  • No changes to the previously planned increases in alcohol and tobacco duties which will increase in line with RPI

Further details can also be found on the HMRC website.

Stuart Masters - Director at TFMC
Stuart Masters

Stuart has spent almost 20 years in accounting with a significant amount of time focused on Outsourcing and the provision of bookkeeping and financial management information for businesses.

Specialties: Bookkeeping, Management Accounts, Accounts Outsourcing, Business Development, Business Planning, Year End Accounts.